Industries

PwC invests significant resources in building and sharing industry expertise. The depth of our industry expertise, like our international perspective, is an attribute that our clients value highly. We organise around industries to share the latest research and points of view on emerging industry trends, develop industry-specific performance benchmarks based upon global best practices, and share methodologies and approaches in complex areas such as financial instruments and tax provisioning.

Financial Services
In an environment of heightened risks, and market and regulatory pressures, the winners will be companies that can turn challenges into opportunities to build stronger and more enduring customer relationships; sharpen process efficiency; unlock talent and creativity; use improved risk management processes to deliver more sustainable returns; and use new regulatory demands as a catalyst for strengthening the business and enhancing market confidence.

Governments & Infrastructure
The interface between the public and private sectors is an area of great opportunity and innovation. It is now globally recognised that much can be achieved through using private finance for investment in strategic industries that have traditionally been funded through the public purse.

Across the region, economic and social infrastructures are being upgraded or renewed to foster greater economic growth and meet increasing user expectations. Achieving the necessary provision of infrastructure supply will require staggering expenditures. In the short term, governments are unable to provide the funding necessary to meet these targets. This has created the need for private sector capital, which in turn presents significant opportunities for profitable private sector investment.

InfoComm
The InfoComm industry is going through ubiquitous changes. In the past decade, technological advancement, regulatory changes and convergence have transformed the industry. To remain competitive and deliver value, InfoComm players are now trying to simultaneously maximise their revenues while optimising their costs.

Insurance
As margins are squeezed in the face of increasing competition and the cushion of investment returns begins to shrink, insurance companies are looking to sharpen underwriting, cut overheads and reduce claims leakage.

Investment Management
Against a background of increasing regulation and continuing financial market volatility, investment managers are facing mounting competition from foreign rivals and new entrants.

Oil & Gas
The oil and gas industry has undergone substantial reform and accounting standards have improved in an attempt to stabilise and strengthen the markets following the Asian financial crisis.

The resultant deregulation and privatisations have, in turn, created opportunities for foreign and domestic investments. Despite the great potential the industry holds, a failure to comprehend the intricacies of the social, political and economic diversity of countries in the region can very well translate into failure for companies hoping to profit from producing and supplying energy.

Pharmaceutical and Healthcare
Pharmaceutical and life sciences companies are among the most analysed and evaluated organisations in business today. In recent years, profitability has been lagging as many companies have been unable to sustain the robust growth that was once a hallmark of the industry. Thinning pipelines, growing generic competition, and skyrocketing operating and marketing costs are among some of the industry’s main concerns.

Private Equity
From non-control development capital to traditional management-led buyouts of private companies, PE investment has emerged as an increasingly important source of capital and value creation within the global economy. To date, the PE sector has enjoyed a good run – spurred by growth in fund size, low cost of borrowing and impressive return on equity. However, the improved economic outlook and an influx of fresh capital have generated increased competition for good quality investments, while the growing size and complexity of many PE operations have created their own risks and demands.

Retail & Consumer
Retail and consumer product (R&C) companies face many challenges in today’s competitive climate. In mature markets, R&C companies are constrained in their ability to grow and maintain profit margins as a result of a deflationary operating environment, market saturation, slowing population growth, and more discerning but less loyal consumers. Adding to the pressure is the emergence of alternative sales channels, a blurring of roles between suppliers and retailers, and a shift in the balance of power to retailers.

Technology
With the prevalence of devices that comprise mobile telephony, computing, TV and audio capabilities, consumers and businesses are pushing hard and fast to embrace convergence of technologies. A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) analysis reveals a dramatic rise in total spending across the converging sectors: communications, entertainment, and technology, creating a burst of innovation.

Transportation & Logistics
Due to globalisation, declining trade barriers and an increasingly mobile workforce, the transportation and logistics industry continues to enjoy above average growth. By expanding their service offerings both upstream and downstream, transportation companies and logistics service providers are also becoming masters of their supply chain, both forward and backward.